Coco Bandicoot: The Wumpa Games
by Mutitoon90
Summary: Coco's feeling a left out of the celebration of Cortex's defeats. However, she found something that would make her seen as more of an adult, and with Luna's help, she might achieve that goal.
1. Chapter 1

Coco Bandicoot: The Wumpa Games

By Mutitoon90

* * *

Chapter One

It was Decmeber and late spring at the Wumpa Islands. Everyone was working together to set up the second anniversary of their freedom of Neo Cortex. The natives on N. Sanity Island were busy hunting wild boar and gathering fruits and vegetables. At Gun Island, Pinstripe Potoroo and his gang were busy, working on their version of the twenty-one gun salute with machine guns. On Wumpa Island, the residents were working on many things.

Nathan was working on the decorations with Crash, who was complaining about doing the work and a little more about wanting to take a nap.

"Can't we stop and take a break?" The bandicoot whined, followed by releasing a huge yawn.

Rolling his eyes, Nathan, who had finished the decorating for the stage that Luna had built, turned to his friend and said, "Crash, we can't. Things, like this, takes weeks to prepare for, and all of us want this festival now that Cortex and Uka-Uka aren't going to crash the party.

Crash rolled his green eyes in annoyance, keeping his mouth shut. However, his eyes told all of the bandicoot's emotions.

"Yeah, thanks to us, of course." Nathan spoke again, casuing Crash to respond.

"Because of that, it should be a reason not to work." Crash grinned, hoping that his break would be granted.

"Making jokes like that isn't gonna help you to sneak out of working." Nathan announced.

"No fair!" Crash yelled out to his friend, "Sash doesn't have to work!"

"That's not true." Nathan shook his head, announcing his disagreement, "According to Luna, Sash was assigned one of the hardest jobs on the island."

"Hardest job on the island?" Crash exclaimed out loud, "What job could be so difficult that even Luna would call it hard?"

* * *

"Of course, Luna would stick me with the job of babysitting Coco." Sash growled in fury.

Furious at Luna for tricking her to caring for the youngest bandicoot, the silver-furred, yellow-eyed wolf searched for Coco, who disappeared with Pura, the female bandicoot's pet tiger cub.

Earlier, Luna asked Sash to keep an eye on Coco, who wanted to help with the decortating, but the older residents thought that she would be more of a problem.

The residents sent the Komodo Brothers as the representives of Wumpa Island, which kept them from looking after Coco. Luna was too busy being Nathan's representive to Papu Papu and Pinstripe to take care of the sister of Crash Bandicoot. So she turned to Sash, who was not thrilled at all to be Luna's scapegoat for the title of babysitter, and asked her to do it. At first, Sash was determined to stay out of that job, but when Luna told her that Coco was more like a human girl, which were easier than a werewolf of the same age, Sash gave in.

"As soon as Luna gets back, she's gonna be the bandicoot-sitter!" Sash growled as she looked for the duo.

Watching the wolf in her search, Coco and Pura sat in a tall tree, knowing that Sash prefered to sniff the ground over smelling the air. As Sash questioned her nose and the scent, Coco covered her mouth to keep herself from being exposed to the short-tempered wolf, remembering how she tricked Sash into 'losing' her.

An hour earlier, Coco told Sash that she wanted to use the restroom, and Pura needed to use the litter box. Sash allowed it, knowing that the young bandicoot would not take too long. She was wrong; minutes later, Sash was asleep, and Coco and Pura had stuck out of the bathroom window.

Coco, using the treetops, traveled through the jungle with little effort, and Pura leaped from branch to branch as he followed the young bandicoot. This kept Sash from finding the duo.

Once Sash was gone, Coco and Pura went off to into the trees, until she found Crash and Nathan, whom were working on the tables for the food.

"Hi, guys." Coco greeted her brother and friend.

When the males heard this, they were spooked until Coco and Pura appeared from the trees.

"Coco!" The friends glared at the young she-bandicoot, who responded in confusion.

"What?"

"Coco, where's Sash?" Nathan asked his best friend's sister, who replied, "Last time I saw her, she went for a quick walk."

The boys failed to truly believe the younger bandicoot, and Crash, knowing better, asked Coco, "Then why were you using the trees to travel through the jungle?"

"Come on, Big Brother," a sugar-coated tone of Coco Bandicoot spoke out, "why shouldn't I? It's easier that way."

"She's right." Nathan said, causing Crash to looked at him in confusion. Then, Nathan added, "It's a good way to hide from Sash."

"That's true." Crash chuckled in agreement, causing Coco to glare at her elder brother.

"Okay, so I tricked Sash. That's not a crime."

"Well, you're not helping us!" Crash declared like an older brother, while Nathan added, "We've got everything under control here."

The young bandicoot was upset. One: Coco was the youngest changed animal on the Wumpa Island and Gun Island. Two: everyone, in Coco's mind, thought she was useless and helpless to do anything important. Finally: she was being baby-sat by Sash, who was not pleased to do the job.

Coco turn around and called to the tiger cub.

"Let's go, Pura!"

The young tiger followed the female bandicoot, wanting to know how it could help his dearest friend.

As the duo walked off, Nathan shouted out a warning to them.

"Coco, Pura, if you go to the stage, please do NOT mess or play with on it!"

"Sure." Coco non-heartingly said upon hearing the warning of her brother's best friend, thinking that Nathan was trying to boss her around.

"Nathan, why are you giving warnings to her?" Crash inqurred to his oldest friend, "You know that she never listens to that."

"I know," Nathan admitted, "but you don't know for sure if she'll listen this time, Crash."


	2. Chapter 2

Coco Bandicoot: The Wumpa Games

By Mutitoon90

* * *

Chapter Two

Coco went to the wooden stage, which was huge and grand, like from one from an opera house. In awe of the stage, the young banidcoot went onto the platform and walked around for a few moments. Pura sat on the sand, avoiding the stage and all of its parts.

"Come on, scardy cat!" The young bandicoot taunted her feline, which caused the cat to walk away from the platform. Coco looked at her friend and taunted it some more.

"Pura, what are ya: a cat or a mouse?"

The calls made Pura to turn around and leave the area. This made Coco annoyed and upset.

"Fine! Go! I don't need any help!"

"I beg to differ, Coco."

Coco turned around and saw Luna, who was not happy about the pre-teen on her stage.

Luna was wearing a business attire on a blue jacket with matching tie, skirt and heels, and a white blouse. Her short, brown hair was reaching to her shoulders, while two stray bangs hang in front sides of her face, framing it.

"Luna!" Coco gasped in shock, "I didn't know you were back."

"I know." Luna confirmed, "Also, I didn't know that you'd go to stage and try to fix it behind my back."

Coco grinned sheepishly, but Luna was not smiling, saying, "Off the stage, Coco."

"Why?" Coco asked.

"Now!" The fancy-dressed werewolf commanded.

"Not until you answer." The bandicoot announced.

"You've got two chooses: you can either step off the stage, or you can get thrown off. Take your pick, Coco."

Defeated, the pre-teen removed herself from the stage by jumping off of it. Landing on her feet, Coco glared at the teenaged wolf girl, saying, "This bites!"

"Coco, not now." Luna announced; her stern tone sounded tired, "I just returned from Gun Island with four other bandicoot girls. I will talk to you later, once I've had chance to take a nap. Now, go home, Coco."

Mad at being dismissed, the younger sister of Crash stormed off the stage and into the jungle, followed by a nervous Pura. The she-wolf looked on just after finding Coco and Luna arguing.

"Sash," spoke Luna in a soft-as-a-feather tone of voice, "I'm sorry I give you so much trouble as a kid. I thought that Coco would be less of a challenge for you."

"Don't worry about that." The silver wolf tried to comfort her friend, "Not every wild child as a werewolf. However, I didn't chase after you as a wolf all of the time."

"Good point." Luna agreed as a small smile formed on her lips, "Thanks, Sash."

"You're welcome." Sash smiled back at her friend. Then, she took a better look at the brown haired girl and said, "The punks on Gun Island are getting worse!"

"Yeah!" The wolf girl confirmed the announcement by rubbing her hip and backside, "Those claws are sharp!"

"So, what are you going to do?"

"About the punks?" Luna spoke, "I don't know. However, taking an ice bath sounds like a great idea."

With that side, Luna turned to the direction of her house and semi-limped to her home.

As Coco entered her room, which was decorated with machines and flowers, the young bandicoot's thoughts were filled with resentment to her older friends for keeping her under a watchful eye.

"IT'S NOT FAIR!" Coco shouted in fury.

Coco wanted to prove that she was old enough to do some of the work and not to be seen as a child to everyone else. She went to her desk, which was the resting place of many, misplaced papers and her laptop, and picked it up. Taking the computer to her bed, Coco opened and activated it.

Pura poked his head into the room, worried about the blonde bandicooot, who was upset at her friends. The cub went to a bedside and laid down.

She entered the world wide web and looked for something to distract her mind from her fury. Then, she saw something that truly took her interest.

"What's this?"

As she looked at the article, she thoughts went wild with excitement. Once she was through reading, she jumped off of her bed, nearly stepping on the cub, and ran out of the room, followed by Pura.

"Wait until Luna hears about this!" Coco announced as she went downstairs and out of the door.

Pura did not answer, but he followed Coco all of the way to Luna's home.

Once arrived at the house Luna lived in, Coco knocked on the door.

Meanwhile, Luna was exiting the bathroom, when she heard the knock. Turning to Sash, Luna asked, "Can you get that? I can't get the door at the moment."

"Really?" Sash joked as she smiled casually, which earned the wolf a playful glare from the wolf girl, who asked, "Please?"

"All right." The wolf laughed as she went to the door.

Upon nearing the door, Sash had a silver glow surrounding and engulfing her body. The form twisted until she was in her ethereal form. Then, she went to the door and unlocked it. After that, Sash retreted from the door and called out to the person knocking on the door.

"Come in; the door's open."

Outside, Coco and Pura heard this and obeyed. Upon entering the home of Luna and Sash, their heard Sash's shocked voice as she greeted them.

"Coco, Pura, what are you two doing here? I thought you wouldn't go near Luna after she told you to get off the stage."

"I wasn't," Coco answered with a smile, "but when I got home, I got on the world wide web and got word about the Olympic Games."

Coco never finished her explaination, because a fully-clothed Luna heard this and interuppted her.

"The Olympic Games! That's a great idea!" Luna annouced with excitement, "That's the perfect way to celeberate the two-year anniversary of the islands' indepenence!"

"You think it's a good idea?" Coco asked Luna in her confusion.

"Good idea is turly an understatement!" The green shirt-wearing female said in excitement, "'Wonderful,' 'Excellent,' and 'Awesome' are just a few words to discribe the idea."

Then, Luna suddenly turned concerned, causing Sash, Coco and Pura to worry about the wolf girl.

"What's wrong, Luna?" Coco asked, but Sash answered the question.

"Well, everyone else may not agree with the idea of making our version of the Olympic Games."

"Yeah," Luna confirmed the silver wolf's reply, "we can't count on everyone to be in full agreement."

"Hey," Coco voiced her thoughts loudly, "it can't hurt to ask, so let's ask."

Sash and Luna looked at each other, looking for the other's approval. Luna was the first to say something about the suggestion.

"Figures that Coco would think of something like this." Luna announced to her friend, "Let's do it!"

Sash revealed a grin and replied, "Well, it figures that you would agree with something like this. However, this is a good thing to had as an idea."

"Is that a good thing?" Coco asked in her confusion, which gained the wolf girl's answer as well as a half-hearty laugh.

"Of course, Coco. Sash is normally a 'stick-in-the-mud,' but she has her more 'humorous' side of her personality."

"Ha ha ha." Sash dryly laughed at her friend, "I'll admit that I lack your idea of 'good fun,' but I want to, at least once an in a while, let loose my wild side."

Shrugging her shoulders, Luna confessed rather sheepishly, saying, "She's being honest."

"Then, what are we waitin' for?" Coco shouted impaitently at the wolves, "Let's go!"

The bandicoot girl went out of the door as fast as she could, followed by her faithful companion and leaving Luna and Sash behind in the dust.

"Excitable child, isn't she, Luna?" coughed the silver wolf as Luna sneezed loudly before giving her answer.

"Yep, and that's why we should go after her, Sash. She could get too excited, and the old saying of 'Too much of a good thing is bad' apply in this case."

"Agreeable." Sash nodded.

Quickly, the pair went off into the jungle, hoping to chase down the excited Coco and her partner, Pura, from the conquences of her actions.


	3. Chapter 3

Coco Bandicoot : The Wumpa Games

By Mutitoon90

* * *

Chapter Three

At a work site, Crash and Nathan were taking a break upon finishing their jobs. As the friends relaxed, they were talking about needing something for the celebration.

"A contest?" Crash exclaimed in confusion, "That doesn't sound like a good idea."

Nathan looked at his friend and asked, "Why not, Crash? It'll help with motiving the others for the anniversary celebration."

"It doesn't work for me." Crash sneered at Nathan's idea, "Besides that, a contest has no action, no adventure."

Then, the sounds of footsteps were heard by the males. In normal circumstances, the bandicoot would had just guessed who was coming upon arriving, but after a while of hearing those beats, he knew it was Coco.

"Here comes trouble." Nathan announced as the footsteps grew louder.

"I know." Crash spoke out, "I'd wish she would leave us alone."

"You can say that again." The human agreed as Coco and Pura appeared from the plant life of the jungles of Wumpa Island.

"Hi, guys!" Greeted the younger sister of Crash Bandicoot, "I've got a great idea!"

"Oh, really?" Doubt dripped from the male bandicoot's voice, while his human friend sounded more pleased about Coco's announcement.

"What is it? I'm sure that Luna would like to hear about it."

"She already knows." Coco grinned confidently at Nathan, who blushed out of embarrassment.

"Well," Nathan said somewhat sheepishly, "that's good news."

"Yeah," Crash half-agreed with his friend, "Good for Coco."

"Coco!" Luna's voice rang out of the jungle.

Turning to the jungle flora, the she-bandicoot shouted to the wolf girl, saying, "Over here!"

Luna and Sash appeared from the leaves of the jungle, and each gave a greeting to the males and Coco.

"Hi, Crash! Hi, Nathan!" Luna waved at the boys, while Sash said, "Good afternoon, friends."

"Likewise, girls." Nathan returned the greeted, while Crash gave a half-hearted "Hi."

"Did Coco tell you guys of her idea yet?" Luna asked the guys.

"She was about to, but you two showed up." Coco's elder brother answered with an annoyed look on his face.

"Good!" The wolf girl jumped in excitement, "Didn't want to miss the look on your faces when Coco gives the announcement of her plan!"

Sash went Coco's side and said, "Go on; the worse they can do to you is say no."

Hearing this note of confidence, Coco nodded her head to the silver wolf, turned to Nathan and Crash and gave her idea.

"I've looked up on the world wide web and found these series of games called the Olympic Games, and I thought it would be a good idea."

The older bandicoot looked confused and turned to Nathan and asked, "What's the Olimping Games?"

With a laugh, Nathan answered his friend's question.

"The Olympic Games are a series of events that are played by teams from almost every nation in the world. These events take place every four years; summer in the first two, and winter in the other two."

Interested about the games, Crash asked, "Which games are playing this year?"

"Summer Games." Nathan answered with a grin, but Luna added, "In six months."

"What!" Crash exclaimed in a mixture of shock and fury, "Six months? Why!"

"Because of two things." Sash spoke to her friend, "One is due to the fact that most of the competing nations live in the northern hemisphere, and two, it can be said very much the same for the committee that organized the Games."

"Aw, man!" The bandicoot said, disappointed at the news.

"Don't worry too much about it," Nathan smiled at his good friend, "it's a good way for the countries to train the competing teams for the next games."

"Which will be the Winter Games in two years." Luna added, helping the boy in calming Crash.

"Really?" Crash asked his human friends, when Sash confirmed it.

"Of course. The games are the perfect combination of sports and contest."

"Sports?" The male bandicoot asked upon hearing the word.

"Contest?" The human boy mused, thinking of the word that he was repeating.

"I think that your idea is a hit." Luna turned the the younger of the bandicoot siblings, who replied in her pleasure.

"Really?"

"Don't be too haste." The silver wolf spoke out to the taller females, "Right now, we have to get the other leaders of the other islands to agree as well."

"Oh, yeah." Luna and Coco said in unison, as Crash and Nathan agreed.

"That's not good." The black-haired boy thoughtfully announced sadly, while Crash added in a positive tone, "I bet they would agree."

"Then, let them know!" The brown haired wolf girl shared the male bandicoot's enthusiasm.

"Doubt about them disagreeing with us." Nathan agreed, now smiling at his friends.

"Then, let's pitch the idea!" Coco shouted in an excited mood.

With this in mind, the bandicoots, the werewolves, Nathan, and Pura ran off to the bandicoots' home, wanting to tell everyone about the idea.


	4. Chapter 4

Coco Bandicoot: The Wumpa Games

By Mutitoon90

* * *

Chapter Four

In the weeks following the birth of Coco's Olympic-based idea, Luna and Nathan went to leaders of N. Sanity and Gun Island, Papu Papu and Pinstripe. Both of the leaders agreed with the idea, secretly beliving that they would be the winning island.

As the islands prepared for the games, which by then was called the Wumpa Games, every creature on the islands were either training or working on the events. While this was going on, one person was kept out of the building of the Games...

"IT NOT FAIR!" Coco roared at the top of her lungs, "THIS IS THE MOST UNFAIR THING THAT ANYONE HAS DONE TO ME!"

"Coco, this is not the time for losing your head." Luna spoke to the outraged bandicoot, "Raving around, like a spoiled brat, isn't going to get the others to allow you to help."

Coco, after being rejected by the other residents of Wumpa Island once more, was in Luna's house and was not shy about voicing her fury.

"Coco," Luna looked at the young mammal as Sash minded her own business, "I can understand that-"

"No, you don't!" Fury-filled was the bandicoot's green eyes as she countered the wolf girl's incomplete sentence, "Can't they see that I'm more than a pest?"

"Coco, clam down." Luna announced as she got up from the chair she was sitting on, "I've got some good news for you."

"News?" The female bandicoot asked Luna, "What kind of good news?"

Modestly smiling, Luna went to the female bandicoot and made her announcement complete.

"Well, I just signed up for the Wumpa Games, and you'll never guess who I'd put down as my partner."

"Who?" Coco asked excitingly, "One of the Komodo Brothers?"

"Nope," Luna replied, "They're running the food and drink stands."

"Professor Roo?" Coco guessed again, waiting for Luna's next response.

"Sorry, I make it a personal rule not to compete with the mentally unstable."

"Kong?"

"He said that he was too busy helping with the tech for the Games."

"Tiny?"

"He's got a partner already."

"Sash?"

The wolf lifted her head upon hearing her name and announced, "Not a chance in competing, but I believe that I'd make a great announcer."

"Great announcer?" Coco asked, looking at the canine, "Nathan's with Crash in the Games. Who else is there to be your partner?"

Luna grinned as she went to Coco, grabbed the fur-covered arm and rised it in the air. In her confusion, Coco looked at the brown wolf girl and asked, "You mean me?"

"That's right." Luna winked at the young bandicoot, "I knew you hate being left out of the fun, so I thought that you'd be happy to partake in the Games."

The young female smiled gleefully as she jumped onto the wolf girl, who just laughed.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

"Okay, okay! Get off, Coco; I'm feeling the love." Luna said as the small bandicoot's abnormally powerful embrace squeezed the werewolf.

Releasing the werewolf, Coco said, "Sorry."

"That's okay," Luna grinned at her friend, "I was like that when I was no bigger than a pup."

"No bigger than a pup?" Coco repeated Luna.

"That's right, Coco." The wolf girl smiled, "I always wanted to help others, but they told me that I could not help, because I was too little."

"Really?" The young bandicoot asked, amazed that someone like Luna was small and saw as a pest at one time or at anytime in her life.

"Yep!" Luna smiled widely, "I did try to tell ya that I could relate to you about being the 'small fry' of the group."

"That's right." Sash smiled at Coco, "She was a little pup with big dreams and even bigger messes. Every time she would try to help, it would be a disaster."

"I don't need a reminder of that time, Sash." Luna rolled her eyes in announced at the wolf.

"Why not?" The silver wolf grinned darkly at Luna, "Making a mess is one of your speical abilities."

"Not funny!" Luna hissed.

The wolves started bickering while Coco watched on, laughing at her friends.

* * *

Meanwhile, Crash and Nathan were looking at the sign-up paper, which was at that point the Wumpa Square, a recently built part of Wumpa Town.

"I wonder if Luna's joining the games?" Crash asked Nathan, who gave his reply.

"Luna? Not join the Games? That's just insane to suggest a thing!"

"Come on, Nathan," The bandicoot backed a step from the human, "it was just a question."

The human backed from himself and recollected himself before he spoke again.

"Sorry about that, Crash. I just overacted a bit, but when I heard a question about Luna-"

"You mean Wolf Girl?" A gruff voice howled from behind the friends, who turned around to see Tiny Tiger.

"Tiny!" Crash exclaimed as Nathan asked the giant feline, "Why are you worried about Luna?"

"Wolf Girl powerful; should not be in Game." Tiny announced, folding his arms in fury.

"Just a mintue, Tiny," Nathan attempted to lull the tiger's fury, "Luna is in the Wumpa Games, however she had to make a few...sacrifices."

"What!" The orange mammals yelled in confusion.

* * *

After Luna's and Sash's agruement, Coco confronted the brown werewolf and announced, "With your abilites, we're sure to win the Wumpa Games!"

The canine duo paused for a moment and looked at each other in shock and confusion.

"Should you or I tell her?" Sash asked Luna, who answered, "I should; I'm her partner in the Wumpa Games."

The youngest of the residents of the island became angry and demanded to know what the wolves were talking about.

"What are you dogs talking about! You're confusing me!"

The young bandicoot, finished with her rant, looked at two pairs of glaring, fury-filled eyes. Luna's silver-blue eyes and Sash's golden-yellow eyes pierced into the soul of Coco Bandicoot, stirking fear into her heart.

"What's with the dirty looks?" A now-nervous Coco asked the wolves, who answered in a eerie unison.

"We do not appreciate being called dogs, Coco. The next time you call us dogs, we will not be very kind to you."

"Alright." Coco meekly answered, fearing the wolf duo.

Then, Luna and Sash returned to their normal, seperate selves as Luna's facial expression turned sad and confused.

"Right!" Luna hissed in air, "How to say this..."

"Say what?" Coco asked her older, more human friend, "Luna, let it out!"

"Ug!" The wolf girl exclaimed at out loud before she answered the question, "Coco, look here. I don't know how to tell you this, but... Ug!"

"What is it?" The bandicoot asked Luna, who took a deep breath before she answered.

"Under certain guidelines, I'm forbbiden to use my powers during the Games."

"What?" Coco asked in shock.

"Sorry, Coco."

"Wait a second!" Coco announced her thought, "If you can't use your powers, how can you keep yourself from using them?"

Luna gave out another sigh as she answered that inquiry.

"Sash is going to make sure of that."

"How?" Coco asked her taller friend.

"Can I show her?" Sash's ears perked up.

"When the Games start."

"I still want to know." Coco announced.

The wolves looked at each other again in their confusion, but Sash was quick to answer this time.

"Well, I'm called, upon the werewolves, a beam-rider."

"A beam-rider?" Coco asked the silver-furred wolf.

"That's right." Sash nodded her head, "Remember that spirit-like form that I always change into?"

"Of course!" Coco replied as she looked confused about the explaination.

"Well, that's the 'normal' sign of a beam-rider."

"As well as the silver hair and yellow eyes." Luna intervened into the conversation.

"Luna!" The wolf scolded at the more human. Then, Sash returned to Coco and continued to explain.

"It is true about the psychical signs of a beam-rider. However, it is the most feared of the werewolves."

"Then, why are they the least known?" Coco looked at Sash.

"Coco, werewolves are very different than normal humans. However, the rest of humanity fail to see us as fellow human beings."

"Yeah," Luna confirmed Sash's explaination, "and the less human one looks, the more others will fear and hate them."

"Fear and hate?" Coco asked out loud, "Why would they do that?"

"Many reasons." Sash answered, "Some humans are jealous, some are hateful, some are fearful, and some believe us to be evil."

"Don't forget, Sash, about the some of us believing in that they were better than most humans." Luna reminded Sash.

"That's right." The wolf nodded in a confirmed sigh, "A few of us got tired of being seen as monsters."

"Big time." Luna said, knowing the truth in Sash's words.

"That's horrible." Coco announced, saddened about her friends' plight.

"It is, Coco." Luna said, "Now, let's back to the beam-rider news."

"Yeah." Sash finally smiled, "It's a prefered idea."

Coco agreed with the wolves and said, "I want to hear about them now."


	5. Chapter 5

Coco Bandicoot: The Wumpa Games

By Mutitoon90

* * *

Chapter Five

Days following Luna's announcement of being Coco's partner, the Wumpa Games were being hosted on N. Sanity Island. Nine teams, three teams of two people, stood in the middle of a wood and straw houses.

"I'm scared." Coco whispered to Luna, her partner, who said in a calm tone, "You have nothing to worry about."

"Are you sure?" The bandicoot asked.

"Positive." The wolf girl grinned at her friend.

Then, the voice of Aku-Aku was heard by the girls and the rest of the competing teams.

_"Ladies and gentlebeasts, welcome to the First Wumpa Games! I, Aku-Aku will be one of your announcers for the next three days."_

_"That's right!" _Sash's voice rang out after the mask's voice, _"The crowd's wild, and the teams are ready to go!"_

"Well, most of us." Coco rebuffed the announcement.

_"Now, let's meet our teams!" _The magical mask announced, telling the teams to walk into the middle of the village.

Nine teams of two entered the middle as the colorful mask and the silver wolf continued to speak.

_"Entering the field is the local teams." _Aku-Aku announced over the intercom.

_"The three native teams of N. Saity Island comes as follows:"_ Sash spoke out, _"Here comes the Hunters, the Gatherers, and the Chief team."_

As the groups entered the circle of animal-people, they saw the teams. The Hunters looked like tall, muscle-covered men, the Gatherers looked like thin woman, and the Chief team was composed of Chief Papu and a younger, yet strong-looking man.

Then, the announcers spoke out the next groups, this time it was the teams from Gun Island.

_"Here they come!"_ Aku-Aku's voice rolled though the ears of the audience, _"Here's the Trophy Girls, the Smart Girls, and the Gun Men."_

The Trophy Girls appeared first. One of the Trophy Girls was blonde bandicoot wearing a blue jumpsuit. The other member of the Trophy Girl was a green haired bandicoot wearing a yellow jumpsuit. The Smart Girls appeared, following the Trophy Girls. One was a cyan haired bandicoot wearing a female-version of a lab coat. The second was also female with black hair wearing purple, sleevesless shrit and a jean shorts. The final team was the Gun Men, which had Pinstripe and a younger potoroo.

_"Finally," _Sash announced, but Aku-Aku finished, _"here comes the Wumpa Island teams! Here come the Good Guys, the Brawn Men, and the Half-Pints!"_

The Good Guys, which were Crash Bandicoot and Nathan Charles, ran to the center of village. The boys waved at the cheering crowds as the next team followed them.

The Brawn Men, which was Tiny Tiger and Dingodile, entered the center with great speed. Once in the center, the duo started flexing their muscles, causing the other team to giggle at them.

The Half-Pints, Coco and Luna, followed the brawny mammals. As they reached the middle, Aku-Aku and Sash spoke out again.

_"As the rules are stated, the following people come forward." _Sash spoke out to the teams.

Aku-Aku said the following names.

_"Chief Papu, Puku, Pama, Pamo, Pinstripe, Mario, Nathan, and Luna."_

One by one, each person stepped forward until Luna joined the group. Once done, Doctor Brio went to the competitors that stepped forward with a box.

"Come on!" The little man demanded the people, " Right now, give up any weapons you might have."

Chief Papu was the first to give up his staff. This was followed by his teammate, who gave Brio his spear. Next, the Hunters gave their knives and spears to the doctor.

"That's good." Brio said, turning to the Gun Men.

The potoroos gave up their guns to Brio, who asked, "What about pocketknives?"

The males looked at each other before they reached into their pockets and pulled out their knives and gave them to Brio.

"Good," Brio said. Then, he turned to the Wumpa Islands competitors and said, "You're next."

Nathan was the first, surrendering his weapon to Brio. The next to give up anything was Tiny, who allowed his trident to be taken by the small doctor. Following that was Dingodile, giving up his flamethrower. Finally, Brio turned to Luna, but he was confused upon turning to the wolf girl.

"Oh my!" Brio exclaimed as he realized that Luna cannot give up her powers, "My, I think we have a problem here."

"Don't worry, Brio," Luna smiled brightly, "Sash is on the case."

"Huh?" The males asked the girl.

Then, Tiny asked the wolf girl, "How Wolf Girl lose powers?"

_"Hold on for a moment, folks."_ Sash's voice called to the crowd.

Then, a beam of silver light flew out of the announcer's box and floated through the sky. As the crowd watched the show, Brio felt a hand on his shoulder, casuing him to turn to Luna, who said, "I think you should take a few steps to the side."

"Okay." The small doctor nodded before obeying the wolf girl.

Then, Sash, in her beam-like form, flew down to the ground, facing the brown werewolf, who stood her ground, saying, "Do your worse, Sash."

"That's not my intention." The silver-white energy being answered to Luna.

Luna readied herself, like she was about to be tackled by a rugby player, as Sash flew once more. This time, the wolf flew at Luna!

"Luna!" The others yelled out in horror as Luna was hit by the beam that was Sash.

After Sash went through Luna, Coco went to Luna, who was on her knees, and turned her attention to the silver wolf, saying, "How could you do something like that!"

"Don't...worry...about it..." Luna gasped as she placed a hand on the young bandicoot's hand, "I asked for it."

"Asked for it?" Coco repeated the wolf girl.

"That's right." Sash confirmed.

The young bandicoot looked at Sash, whose appearance greatly surprised her!

In the place of the silver werewolf was a young woman with the same body build as Luna, but this woman was wearing a white blouse, a black vest, black slacks, and black dress shoes. The only thing that told Coco that the woman was Sash was the long, silver hair and the bright, gold eyes.

"Sash?" Brio rubbed his eyes before looking at the strange woman, "How can it be, unless you're really a werewolf too!"

Sash looked at her brown haired counterpart before turning to Brio and said, "To quote my friend and cousin, Luna, 'Well, duh!'"

"Cousin!" The others exclaimed in confusion, expect for Nathan, who stepped forward and spoke out.

"As long as I've known the two of them, Sash and Luna took me that they were related as cousins through their mothers. Sash is a beam-rider, or a moon mysic, which is a kind of werewolf."

"Really?" The other teams surrounded Nathan, curious about the new information about the most mysterious of the wolf girls, causing the human to become nervous.

"Hey!" Luna shouted to the surrounding animals, "Back off of the male human!"

Tiny, upon hearing this, started laughing at Luna, stated, "Wolf Girl no more wolf girl! You weak now."

The huge tiger pointed at Luna, who cocked an eye brow as Sash stepped between Tiny and Luna.

"Back off, Tiny." Nathan spoke out to the tall tiger, "You know that Luna can't transform, thanks to my big mouth, but Sash is the one that can grant her powers back."

"Tiny no believe that." The tiger laughed at Luna more.

This time, Luna went passed her silver haired ally and grabbed the pointing index finger. Upon grabbing the finger, the brown haired human dug her fingernails in the flesh of the tiger's finger.

The huge cat howled in pain, retracting his finger and placing it into his mouth. Looking at Luna with a death glare, Tiny wimpered in slightly eased pain.

"Sorry, Tiny," Luna said honestly, "but I hate being insulted."

"Besides that," Sash added to Luna's statement, "you were asking for it, Tiny. So, don't expect any kindness from us."

The others laughed at the tiger, who returned to his partner, before they followed the feline's example.

"Luna!" Coco complained at her partner, "How are we supposed to win without your powers?"

"This isn't about winning." Luna expressed a carefree smile at the little bandicoot, "It's about doing your best, and that's all."

"Yeah," Pinstripe's voice echoed out to the girls, who turned to him as he continued to speak, "do your best to make it to second place."

"That's what you think." Luna rolled her blue eyes upon seeing the potoroo, "It takes talent and teamwork to win the Games, not good looks."

The potoroo laughed loudly as he went to his partner, Mario.

"She's right." Mairo confirmed Luna's announcement.

"Keep your comments to yourself." The "Boss" demanded on his underling.

"I'm just trying to help ya out, Bro." Mario shrugged his shoulders.

Pinstripe huffed and scoffed at his brother as he walked off to the first event of the Wumpa Games. Mario sighed deeply before following Pinstripe to the event as well.


	6. Chapter 6

Coco Bandicoot: The Wumpa Games

By Mutitoon90

* * *

Chapter Six

The first event was the wild boar ride, and most of the competitors were ready to ride.

"I'm not ready!" Coco, worried about her chances of winning, shouted at Luna, who was covering her ears from audio pain.

"I hear ya, Coco, but there's no turning back now."

The youngest bandicoot looked at Luna in fright as she exclaimed, "What!"

"Come on, Coco. Get on the boar; we can't win without each other." Luna announced as she picked up the smallest bandicoot by the pants and placed her on the boar, which was trapped in a pen.

"Hey! Get me off of this pig!"

"Careful, Coco." Luna warned the girl bandicoot, "This boar's fiesty and ready to go."

"Please, get me off!" Yelled out Coco to Luna, who said, "Only when we cross that finish line!"

Keeping true to their job, Sash and Aku-Aku announced the first event.

_"Hello, fans!"_ Sash spoke out to the crowd, _"It's time for the boar race! Racers, take your places on the boars."_

The teams mounted on the wild pigs, while Brio gave each team a carrot on a string, which was attached to a tall, pole-like stick as Aku-Aku announced the rules of the race.

_"The rules are this: each team will be riding on a boar. One of the team members will be holding on to the carrot, while the boar runs after the carrot. The first TEAM to cross the line first will win the race."_

As the teams sat on their boars, ready to race, Sash said, _"Ready! Set! Go!"_

The doors to the pens opened, and the nine teams rode off. Coco and Luna was in the middle of the sea of pigs. Then, the wild pigs untangled themselves and went of towards the finish line.

Once on their way to the finish line, the Half-Pints were in third place, but their boar did something unexpected: it ate the carrot. Coco, who was holding the stick, was shocked at first, and then she got angry as the other teams raced passed them.

"You stupid pig!" Coco roared at the boar, which became frightened by the yell.

With a squeal, the boar jumped into the air and ran off. Coco held on to the fur as the wild pig hurried passed the teams that passed the Half-Pints earlier and two more.

"Hey, slow down!" Coco yelled and repeated the phrase many times before and after crossing, the finish line.

"Let go!" Crash yelled at his sister, who heard and obeyed, freeing herself from the wild ride of the boar.

After landing on the ground, the young bandicoot felt her landing spot was lumpy.

"Man!" Coco exclaimed as she sat up, "That's a wild ride!"

"Try holding on to the wrong end of the boar." The landing spot spoke out to Coco.

Then, the spot rose up, causing the young bandicoot to fall off, and shook like a dog that had a wet coat of fur, until the flith flew of the body, revealing that Coco's landing spot was really Luna!

"LUNA!" Coco and the others exclaimed as the powerless werewolf got to her feet.

"Yeah, it's Luna. So, what's new?"

Coco went to Luna and asked, "What happened to you? I thought you were right behind me!"

"I was." The older member of the Half-Pints replied to her teammate, "I also was behind the boar as well."

"Lucky for you that you held on to the boar's tail." Coco smiled sheepishly, which failed to bring a smile to the brown haired teen's face.

"Lucky for you, Coco, that I did."

As Luna spoke, her silver-blue eyes glowed with annoyance and slight fury, before she took a deep breath and spoke once again.

"Keeping myself calm isn't easy, but no one would get hurt by my rage."

"Really?" Coco asked her friend, who answered meekly, "Don't worry about it. What's important is that we're not in last place."

"Better than not finishing at all." Another voice entered the conversation.

Luna and Coco turned their heads and their attention to the source of the voice, which was one of the Smart Girls.

"Sorry about surprising you." The raven haired member of the duo, "Just wanting to join the talk."

The azure haired female only giggled as she looked at Luna and her dirty appearance.

"Well," Luna sighed in defeat, "at least my plight made someone smile."

"You're right." Pinstripe's mocking voice rang out, granting the attention of the females.

Still lacking a smile, Luna said, "That's not cool, Pinstripe."

"Maybe," the potoroo said, before grining darkly, "but it got a laugh from me."

Luna rolled her eyes as she turned to the direction of the showers, which was followed by the potoroo leader of Gun Island's laughter.

"Can't take a joke, Luna?"

The female bandicoots rolled their eyes and followed the werewolf to the ladies' locker room, which was really a huge tent with a shower attached to it.

"Luna," the raven haired bandicoot asked Luna, who was in the shower, "are you okay?"

"I'm all right." Luna shouted out of the shower part of the tent.

Keeping quiet about the current situation, the blue haired bandicoot looked at the stained shirt and jeans that belonged to Luna.

"Hey, leave that alone!" Coco glared at the older female.

"Hey, calm down." The raven haired bandicoot stepped between Coco and her teammate, "Megumi's just looking!"

"Megumi?" Coco asked, cocking an eyebrow at the defending mammal.

"Megumi's just...different."

"Liz," the blue haired bandicoot spoke to her friend, "she's trying to protect her friend's stuff."

"Huh?" Coco asked in confusion, lacking the understanding on the blue haired female bandicoot.

"Sorry 'bout that, Coco," Liz, the raven haired bandicoot, said, "Megumi is odd-odd- Man! I can't remember that word!"

"Autistic." A towel-covered Luna said as she exited the shower.

"Autistic?" Coco asked her good friend.

"Autism is a disorder that causes people to behave differently." Luna explained to the she-bandicoots as she went behind a screen, "Some people find it hard to truly understand autism and its effects on people."

"But how does autism effects animals like us?" Coco looked confused.

"Don't know." Luna thought out loud as her towel was thrown on the screen, "However, werewolves are affected by it as well."

"Huh?" The bandicoots exclaimed as Luna continued to explain.

"Bothered at bit?" The werewolf asked the girl mammals, grabbing a fresh lot of clothes, "Don't worry about it, girls, things aren't as bad as things are. It's hard to being autistic and a werewolf, but werewolf parents are very tough on their kids."

"Now, sounds like your mom and dad was serving tough love to you, Luna." Coco said, earning a strange look from Luna.

"Me?" Luna poked her head from the screen to look at the bandicoots, Oh, no! My parents were tough, but they knew that I wasn't autistic."

"You don't mean...?" Liz asked her incomplete question, only to have the question finished by Coco, who said, "Sash?"

The females nodded their heads, which Luna responded with a smile as she stepped from behind the screen.

"No, but I do have a family member that is."

"Who?" A union of chorus-like question rang out to the wolf girl, who answered with a grin.

"Like I'm trying you guys. Besides, the next event's coming up!"

With a slower-than-normal dash, Luna ran off the tent, leaving Coco, Liz and Megumi behind, looking very confused.

"Is it just me," Liz announced to her fellow females, "or is Luna avoiding questions about her family?"

Coco and Megumi nodded in agreement and said, "Yeah!"

Then, the trio went off after Luna, knowing that the wolf girl was right.


	7. Chapter 7

Coco Bandicoot: The Wumpa Games

By Mutitoon90

* * *

Chapter Seven

Coco found Luna, who was getting ready for the next event, the river dash.

"Luna!" The young bandicoot called out to her partner, who heard her and responed, interrupting Coco's attempt to asked her a question.

"Good to see ya! We need to get ready for the event."

"Luna-" Coco started again, but Sash's voice ripped through the air.

_"Hello, fans! It's time for the river dash! Teams, get to your places!"_

Sighing, Coco went to her's and Luna's place on the starting line, as Aku-Aku's voice announced the rules of the race.

_"All right, here are the rules: each team member is to stay on their rafts as they try to keep it under control. The first team to cross the finish line wins."_

With all of the teams on their rafts, and ready to go, Aku-Aku started the countdown.

_"Three, two, one, GO!"_

With a slow start, all of the rafts floated for the first minute, but then when the currents of the river pulled the racing teams, causing the race to become more exciting, at least for the teams.

Coco and Luna held on to their oars as they reached the most difficult part of the whole race: the River Rapids.

"That doesn't look good!" The younger bandicoot shouted to Luna, who looked at the sharp rocks and grinned confidently.

"This is gonna be fun." The powerless werewolf announced to herself as her team's raft entered the area of the large, jagged stones of the river.

Upon entry, the Half-Pints' raft nearly was smashed into rocks; its fate altered by Coco and Luna. The girls used their oars to push off the rocks, which worked at first.

As Coco tried to push off the raft with her paddle, the wooden oar broke upon impact. This left Coco with only half an oar.

"Oh, man!" The bandicoot exclaimed in pure shock.

Taking notice of the event with Coco's oar, Luna shouted out to the female bandicoot as she raced to Coco's side of the raft.

"Coco! What happened!"

"I don't know!" Coco answered in a yell, "It just snapped!"

Luna pulled the young human-like mammal to the center of the raft before she used her legs to push away from the rock.

"Luna!" Gasped the little bandicoot when she saw the action of the somewhat powerless wolf girl.

"What?"

"I thought you lost your powers."

"Not now, Coco!"

As the team exited the maze of semi-drowned rocks, the Half-Pints made it to the finish line in fifth place.

* * *

Thirty minutes later, the nine teams were in the center of the crowds from the three Wumpa Islands. This time, each team was standing near a totem pole. Everyone in the event was wearing a harness.

_"All right, event fans!"_ Sash's voice rang once again, _"It's now time for the final event of the day: the totem climb!"_

_"Now, for the rules of the climb."_ Aku-Aku spoke out, _"They are simple: each team member must climb to the top of the pole, strike the bell and climb back down. The first team to do this in the shortest time is declared the winners."_

_"Alright!" _Sash spoke again, _"Time to race!"_

Coco looked at Luna, who was more than eager to started to climb the wooden structure.

"Luna..." The bandicoot started to speak, but the wolf girl looked at her younger partner and interrupted her.

"Coco, you better start working on your climbing muscles, or you might end up hurting yourself in the event."

"What's that?" The little bandicoot asked, "Adivce from someone with extraordinary abilities?"

"And someone who wished to have been granted such advice when she was your age." Luna replied to Coco.

The bandicoot looked at the exercising human, who noticed the attention, causing her to say, "Take a picture; it'll last longer."

"What are you talking about?" Coco asked the wolf girl, who got annoyed and said, "Start stretching."

Minutes after that, Sash's voice echoed through the air.

_"Half-Pints, it's your turn to climb!"_

Hearing this, Coco and Luna looked at each other, because they forgot to see who goes first.

"What are we going to do!" Coco asked the female werewolf.

"I know what you're gonna do." Luna smiled brightly.

"What are you-?"

Before Coco could finish her sentence, Luna dragged the bandicoot to the pole and hooked Coco up to the bungie cord, which seemingly tightened in Luna's hand. As she latched on the cord to the she-bandicoot, Luna gave her some advice in a quick summary.

"Coco, take it slow in the climb; time's important, but going too fast can cause you to slip. During the descent, which is after striking the bell, DON'T show off; that's a good way to get hurt. Remember that, and everything will be fine!"

"But, but, but-" Coco tried to speak, but Sash announced to the team.

_"Hey, we're waiting!"_

"Oh, shuddup, Sash!" Luna shouted to her friend.

_"I heard that, Luna."_

This caused Luna and the crowd to laugh.

Then, the werwolf turned to Coco and asked, "Ready?"

"As I'll ever be." The bandicoot answered meekly.

Luna, hearing the hesitation in the young bandicoot's voice, went to Coco and spoke to her.

"Let me explain: if you remember what I've said about the climbing, you'll be just fine."

Despite this note of encouragement, Coco still gulped, frightened about the totem climb.

_"Ready," _Aku-Aku announced to the crowd, but mainly to Coco, _"set, CLIMB!"_

Coco jumped onto the pole and started climbing the totem. Sadly, she was going a little too fast, causing her to slip from the pole.

The crowd gasped at the sight, but a sigh of relief from each member when Coco grabbed to the pole and pulled herself up. The bandicoot reached the top of the pole, earning great awe from the audience.

"Way ta go, Co!" Luna shouted at the younger bandicoot, who was on her way to the ground by pushing herself off the pole. Coco landed in Luna's arms after the third push-off.

"That's climbing!" The werewolf smiled at Coco, who was released from Luna's arms.

"Yeah!" Grinned the young bandicoot, who smiled with her friend and teammate.

_"Time: three minutes and thrity-nine seconds."_ Sash announced to the crowd, whom moaned in shock: it was the slowest time of the competitors.

"Ow!" Luna hissed a sharp inhale, "That sucks!"

"Ha!" Pinstripe's voice rang to the girls, grabbing their attention, "There's no way yours team's gonna recover from dat!"

Luna looked at the porotoo and grinned darkly at him, as if asking, 'Wanna bet?' Then, the werewolf detached the bungee cord from Coco and latched it to herself.

_"Ready, set,"_ Sash announced, _"CLIMB!"_

Keeping pace without slowing down, Luna dashed to the top of the pole. Once on the top, the wolf girl hopped down on the cord in two bound and a quick bounce. When the werewolf's feet were on the ground, Sash made her announcement of the time.

_"Fifty seconds!"_

A series of exclaims and gasped roared from the crowd, but the biggest verbal announcement came from the Half-Pints' oppenent.

"Foul!" The leader of Gun Island announced, "This calls for some referres! I thought she was powerless!"

_"And you're right."_ Sash spoke from her spot.

"Come down here, Sash!" Pinstripe shouted at the silver werewolf, who responded by being spirit-like and flew down to the ground. Once there, Sash's form become human.

"Yes?"

"Luna has her powers, I know it!" Pinstripe announced in a shout-like manner, "She should be disqualified!"

"Sorry, Pinstripe." Sash smiled slyly, "That's right, since Luna's powers and extraordinary abilities were binded."

"Binded?" The head potoroo exclaimed, "To what?"

"To her body," Sash answered, "where Luna can't truly reach them."

"Yeah, right!" Pinstripe shouted his disbelief, "That's load of bull-"

"Pinstripe!" Aku-Aku shouted as he floated to the complaining mammal, "I can testify for Luna; being the guardian of the Wumpa Islands, I can sense if there's any foul play."

"Sounds good ta me!" The leader of Gun Island grinned triumphantly.

"Here's something that isn't for you: Luna's been obeying the rules, Pinstripe."

"That can't be!" The outraged potoroo shouted, "If that's true, how did she climb that pole in under a minute!"

With a chuckle and a smile, the ancient mask gave the answer to the potoroo.

"Before Luna and Sash told the others about their abilites, Luna often asked Sash to bind her wolf-like abilities to appear more human."

"Yeah, right." Pinstripe said with a roll of his yellow eyes, "You expect me to believe that when Luna was powerless, she was climbing totem poles?"

"Actually, I was climbing ruins and cliffs." Luna entered the conversation.

"And wood's easier to climb?" The potoroo asked the wolf girl, who answered, "Not really; you get cut up by the rocks, but wood leaves spliters in the skin."

Then, Luna showed her hands, covered with tiny pieces of wood stick in her skin.

"Ow!" The everyone in the group exclaimed; they were familiar of spliters in one's skin.

"That's gonna be a long time before all of those spliters are out." Nathan, who has been quiet throughout the conversation, finally spoke up.

"Well," Luna smiled, showing her positive outlook, "it's a good thing that the totem climb's the last event of the day."

The others agreed and said in unison, "That's true."

After the event was officially over, the announcement of the scores was made by Aku-Aku and Sash. Each team was either excited, because they were still in the Wumpa Games, or depressed due to being disqualified from the Games.

"Whew!" Coco exclaimed in relief, "We're lucky that you climb cliffs to make yourself stronger!"

"As well that you're on the team." Luna added as she pulled a splinter out of her right hand, which was successful and painful, followed by saying, "Ow."

"Come on, girls!" Nathan's voice called out to the Half-Pints, "The portal's open!"

"Coming!" Luna shouted as she pulled out another piece of wood from her hand.

Seeing this, Coco asked the werewolf, "Luna, how did you managed to get that many spliters in your hands? Seems weird that you're the one to pay a price for a quick climb."

"Well, I didn't pay attention to biology class." Luna laughed out, not knowing that Sash was listening to the answer.

"Translation: I told her that she needed to truly be slow, and she didn't take the adivce."

Coco turned to the now-human Sash, who was staying behind her. The youngest bandicoot returned her attention to Luna, who shrugged her shoulders and confirmed the silver-haired friend, saying, "It's true."

Sighing out of coufusion, Coco started off to the portal, when she heard someone calling her.

"Hey, Coco!"

Turning around, Coco saw Pinstripe's partner, Mario, waving at her. The sister of Crash Bandicoot did not know want to do, but Luna whispered in her ear, saying, "Go for it."

Looking at Luna, Coco turned to her and asked, "Are you sure?"

"Don't worry about it!" Luna smiled, "I'll stay behind to make sure that you can get home, as soon as you're done talking."

Coco blushed a little, but her face glowed neon-red when Luna gave a sly wink to her.

"That's not true!" Coco shouted, sounding like an idiot. Realizing her mistake, she collected her composure and said in a more calm tone, "That's not funny."

Luna, who was trying very hard not to laughing with incomplete success, said between giggles, "Sure... whatever!"

Then, the brown haired wolf girl dashed off, only moments later to be heard laughing hysterically, grabbing everyone's attention, allowing Coco to reach Mario with better ease.

"What was that all about?" Mario asked Coco, who replied, "Luna heard something funny to her."

"What was it?"

"Let's say that certain things leads to extreme laughter for Luna." Coco slightly confessed, somewhat saying that she knows, but she is keeping the information to herself.

"All right." Mario said, getting the message before changing the subject of the conversation.

"So, your team made to the next round."

"Yeah, that's right."

The brother of Pinstripe and the sister of Crash were feeling akward, not knowing what to say to each other. Then, a voice broke through the jungle.

"MARIO!"

Turning to the direction of the yell, Mario said, "Gotta go, Coco! See ya tomorrow!"

"See ya!" Coco yelled back before turning the other way to return to her friends.


	8. Chapter 8

Coco Bandicoot: The Wumpa Games

By Mutitoon90

* * *

Chapter Eight

The following day on Wumpa Island, six teams stood in the middle of the crowd, which was smaller due to the loss of the majority of the teams from N. Sanity Island. Luna and Coco was in third place, behind the Good Guys and the Gun Men. With this information in hand, the crowd cheered and yelled for the events of that day to begin as they stood near the ruins.

_"Alright, fans!"_ Sash announced via mircophone, _"Our teams are ready for the first event of the day: the Ruin Run!"_

The teams looked at the rocky ruins. Crash and Nathan grinned and turned to each other, remebering the time they were climbing the ruins to reach the other side of Wumpa Island to stop Cortex from taking over the world by using an army. Their thoughts were pulled back to reality by Aku-Aku's announcement of the rules.

_"Here are the rules: first team to get to the other side of the ruins are the winners, and the teams must cross together, because the time will still be going until both members have crossed the finish line."_

"What else is new?" Luna smiled at Coco, who answered, "Hardly anything."

"At least!" The Good Guys agreed with the Half-Pints.

_"Teams, go to your marks and pick up your outfits!"_ Sash announced to the teams.

"This is new." Luna said as she and Coco saw the climbing outfits from her team.

Coco looked around at the other teams, whom possesed similar expressions of confusion on their face as well. This cause Coco to asked, "What's going on here?"

_"Blame the Smart Girls, not me!"_ Sash answsered Coco's question without hearing it, however the silver-colored werewolf was more worried about Luna's reaction to the outfit.

Luna held the outfit in her hand, examing the outfit. After the examation, Luna closed her eyes and said, "I'll wear it."

"What?" Coco expressed her confusion.

"The Smart Girls were nice enough to make these outfits, so it only polite to wear them in return."

"I don't believe my ears." Coco announced to the werewolf, who smiled and responded.

"You don't have to, just as long as you do it."

"Man!" Coco exclaimed as she followed Luna, who had a truly shy smile on her face.

After every team were wearing the outfits, Sash spoke out the announcement of the Ruin Run.

_"Everyone ready?"_

"Yeah!" All of the competors answered in a unison.

_"Alright!"_ Sash announced, _"On your marks! Get set! GO!"_

With great speed, the teams climbed the ruins. In first place were the Good Guys. Following them are the Gun Men, the Half-Pints, the Hunters, the Trophy Girls, and Brawn Men.

"Man!" Coco exclaimed within the first ten minutes of the race, "This is tiring! How far is it to the finish line, Luna?"

"On the other side, Coco." Luna yelled of annoyance, because the young bandicoot had asked the werewolf three times before.

"Sorry, didn't know that you're being annoyed." Coco glared at Luna, who saw something and grinned like a court jester.

The sister of Crash looked at the object, which was a flatened path. Seeing this, Coco nodded in agreement before she followed the werewolf to the path. Trying to keep up with the wolf girl, Coco sensed that something was off, causing her to voice out her mind.

"Hey, Luna."

"Yeah, Coco?"

"Tell if I'm wrong, Luna, but isn't strange that a path would be here in the event?"

Luna continued to reach for the road, but she did considered Coco's announcement about the path, saying, "That's a very good point."

"Did you hear that, Luna?" Coco asked, looking around for something.

When Luna saw this, she stopped and replied, "Can't say that I did," the werewolf replied, holding a hand to her ear, "but I'll try to, Coco."

Listening to the air, which was almost empty of any sound, Luna heard a thud, then another and a third. After the third thud, the female werewolf gasped, realizing that there was something heading towards them.

"Not good, Co!" The she-shapeshifter announced to the little mammal, who asked, "What's not good?"

Before Luna could answer, a huge boulder bounced into the girls' sights. When the rock passed the girls, whom had the luck not to be in the boulder's way, both girls sighed in relief.

"This was too close!" Coco breathed happily.

"You can say that again, friend," Luna smiled. Then, she noticed something, causing her to asked, "Something's screwing around here."

"What do you mean, Luna?"

"A smoothed-out path way, which includes a free chance becoming a blouder-styled pancake, is in the Ruin Run; correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't that a little strange to you?"

"Really?" Coco asked, thinking about what Luna said.

"We better get going," Luna announced to her friend, "there's a race to finish."

"Right, Luna!" Coco agreed before she followed Luna to the other side of the ruins and the finish line.

* * *

After the Ruin Run, which the Half-Pints made to third place, the teams replaced the outfits for the run with their normal clothes. Then, the teams went back to the crowd, which stood next to the beach for the next event.

_"The Surf n' Turf is about to being, fans!"_ Sash announced to the cheering crowd, _"Now, teams, get ready!"_

Aku-Aku spoke next.

_"The rules are simple: each team will be on a surfboard and must remain on the board until the last team is left. This time, if one falls off, the other can still win the event for the team."_

The Half-Pints, the Good Guys, the Gun Men, the Hunters, the Trophy Girls and the Brawn Men entered the water, got on their surfboards, and paddled out to sea.

_"The Surf 'n Turf have started!"_ Sash shouted with excitement.

Two minutes into the event, when a big wave knocked the Brawn Men over, disqualifing them.

_"Ow!"_ Sash groaned as she spoke, _"To be the first to be out of the Surf 'n Turf stinks!"_

Soon after, the Trophy Girls and the Hunters fell off of their boards, leaving the Half-Pints, the Good Guys and the Gun Men to ride out the event.

"This is getting boring!" Luna moaned out a yawn.

Coco rolled her eyes and turned her attention to Crash, who was sleeping as he used Nathan to keep himself from falling off the surfboard. Seeing her brother in such a strange postion made her laugh.

"Feeling better, Coco?" Luna asked, surprising the young bandicoot.

"Huh? Just a little."

"Hey!" Pinstripe shouted over the sounds of the waves.

The yell caused Crash to wake up and rolled off of the surfboard. Upon landing in the water, Crash started to painc.

"Crash!" Nathan yelled out as he reached out to Crash, which caused him to fall off as well, leaving Luna and Coco at the possible mercy of the Potoroo Brothers.

"This isn't good!" Coco wimpered as Pinstripe grinned darkly.

Luna, not paying any attention to the potoroos, was looking at the ocean.

"Coco, can you surf?"

"Sure." Coco replied nervously, still looking at the potoroos, "Why?"

"Then, surf's up!"

"Huh?"

Looking at the sea, she saw the giant wave coming at the teams. Coco panicked, but Luna managed to calm her down.

"Co! Remember how to surf, and we'll be just fine."

The young bandicoot took the advice, allowing her to smile in confidence as she and Luna readied themselves for the huge wave.

The Gun Men saw the wave as well, but Pinstripe did not stay on the surfboard, leaving Mario to face the wave by himself.

Sash was beaming with excitement as did her job as an announcer.

_"A surf-off is in progress! Which team is gonna wipe-out first, fans? Will be the Half-Pints that sticks together, or the lone Gun Man, Mario? It's anyone's surf now!"_

As the wave advanced towards the surfers, the crowds looked on as the Good Guys stood on the beach to watched their female friends face against the wave of water.

"Cowabanga!" Luna yelled as the wave came upon the Half-Pints and Mario, who stood on the surfboards and rode the wave.

_"Great tidal waves!"_ Sash's voice rang out to the crowd, _"The Half-Pints and Mario are riding, but what's this!"_

The spectators looked out at the surfing teams and saw something shocking: Luna losing her balance on the surfboard!

"Luna!" Coco shouted as the werewolf was about slip off the board, but it was too late; Luna was offically wiped out, and Coco was on her own against Mario Potoroo.

_"WOW!"_ Sash yelled in pure and nearly uncontrolled excitement, _"Coco Bandicoot of the Half-Pints and Mario Potoroo of the Gun Men are the last contenders of the Surf n' Turf, and the energy and the pressure are high!"_

The little bandicoot managed to keep herself on the surfboard, while her opponent, Mario, did the same thing, knowing that if he slipped off the board that his partner was not going to let him hear the end of it.

Keeping herself from being drowned by the waves, Luna swam towards the shore, but she noticed that Coco and Mario were surfing against each other. Seeing this caused Luna to shout out a cheer to her teammate.

"Go for it, Co!"

However, Luna's cheer, which was filled with good intention, was to be Coco's downfall, because the yell distracted her partner, Coco, and the young bandicoot wiped out.

Red with embarssment for causing Coco to lose the event, Luna just wanted the waves to come and allowed herself to drown, but that kind of luck was not on the wolf girl's side.


	9. Chapter 9

Coco Bandicoot: The Wumpa Games

By Mutitoon90

* * *

Chapter Nine

"What have I done!" Luna exclaimed as she paced on the floor of her and Nathan's home, still mentally recovering from the humiliating situation during the Surf n' Turf.

"Don't worry about it, Luna," Nathan said in an attempt to calm the werewolf, "She wasn't that upset about slipping. She even said that she would have slipped off even if you haven't called her."

"That's not concerns me now," The guilt-filled, brown haired werewolf countered, "I'm worried about her. Even since we started up this anniversary thing, Coco's been dismissed from nearly everything by nearly everyone, and then she brings up the idea of your version of the Games, and no one would allow her on their team. Now, I've just embarassed her in front of majority of the Wumpa Islands' residents. Some friend I am."

"There, there," Luna's friend, Sash, said as she patted her brown-haired counterpart, "Coco's a big girl; she can take it, like a man- I mean, like a woman."

Luna did not want to hear that, so she announced, "Hey, here's an idea: try comforting Coco; she's the one who needs it, not me!"

"Luna..." Nathan and Sash looked at each other, hoping the other had the answer needed to help Luna and Coco.

Unbeknowest to Luna, Coco was outside, hearing every word that the wolf girl said. Not knowing what to do, she got to her feet and started to walk and wonder aimlessly. This lasted for a few minutes until Mario called out to her.

"Hey, Coco!"

The bandicoot turned around as the younger of the Potoroo Brothers contined to speak to her.

"You wanna talk?"

"Sure," The youngest of the Bandicoot Siblings responded, "I'm good at nothing else."

"That's not true!" Mario's eyes narrowed in fury, "Besides, Luna made a mistake by shouting out a cheer, while you're trying to stay on the board."

"Hmm," Coco scoffed at the statement, "she only made the inevitable come sooner."

"I don't know about that," The more kinder potoroo stated, "but I know that if she hadn't yelled out to you, my brother would have been on my case."

"Pinstripe?" Coco asked. Then, she inquried, "Hey, why is that, Mairo? He's in the Wumpa Games."

"Yeah, and he wants to win... badly." Mario answered with slight hesitation, "I'm just tired of it."

"Really?" Coco asked the potoroo, who nodded and said, "As soon as these Games are over, I'm moving!"

"To where?" The sister of Crash tilted her head in confusion.

"Maybe, to this island."

"Why?"

"Don't know; maybe it's got a better view of the sky at night, maybe it's... better kept. I really don't know."

Coco noticed that Mario was telling the truth to an extent, and she wanted to know more; however, the question is how to ask him without looking like she was being nosy. The answer came earlier than Coco had expected, and the form the answer came in was not what Coco desired.

"Coco!" Crash's voice rang out to the pointed ears of Coco and Mario, "Where are you?"

"Oh, no!" Coco moaned in embarassment, covering her blushing face as her elder brother arrived at the area that Coco and her companion was sitting.

"Coco, so that where you're at!" Crash announced, causing more embarassment to the young female bandicoot.

"Hi, Crash." The potoroo greeted the hero of the Wumpa Islands, "It's good to see you again."

"Hey, Mario!" Crash greeted loudly, causing Coco to blushed another shade of red, "How are ya?"

"All right, I guess." Mario replied with a shy and honest grin.

Seeing the grin, Crash did not fully believe Pinstripe's younger brother, so he confronted Mario about his answer.

"That not true! I know for a fact that you've got a crush on a certain someone on this island."

Now, it was Mario's turn to blush, much to Coco's surprise. Then, Crash grinned widely, showing the mischief in the smile as he continued to speak.

"So, it is true; it is her!"

"CRASH!" Coco finally voiced her frustration and fury, "Please leave!"

"Okay, okay!" Crash retreated from his little sister, "I'm going, I'm going!"

After Crash disappeared from the couple's sights, Coco turned to Mario and asked, "Is it true?"

"What?"

"What Crash announced to the whole jungle."

"Oh, yeah..." Mario remembered, blushing about forgetting that, "Well, he's telling the truth."

Coco started to form tears in her eyes, because she had feelings for Mario for as long as she could remember that day she first met him.

Mario was working at the power plant that once functioned on Cortex Island, and Coco wondering the jungle that surrounded the castle, hoping to escape from the cursed grasp of Neo Cortex. She was looking for something in the jungle that might help her escape, when she bumped into Mario, who was on guard duty at the time. Mario, at first, was not pleased about being bumped, but when he saw Coco, his expression of annoyance and possible fury was replaced by an understanding compassion, and politely told Coco to leave.

Since that day, Coco had a place in her heart for the potoroo.

"Mario," Coco blushed, knowing that what she was about to say was going to help her express her feellings to the potoroo, dispite the outcome of the coruse of action, "I've... had... this funny thought of... a guy, who I've had a crush for a while, and I've just wanted to know that-"

The younger bandicoot never finished her statement, because Mario gave her a kiss on the lips, which was quick and took Coco completely by surprise.

A moment of complete understanding came between Coco and Mario. However, the moment was over, when a voice called out to Mario.

"Mario! Get your tail over here!"

"Great!" The potoroo moaned in annoyance, "Big Brother's calling for me."

"Not fair!" The youngest of the female bandicoots declared, "He's not being fair!"

"I know, Coco, but he's da boss." Mario shrugged his shoulders as he departed toward his brother's voice. Before he left her, Mario turned to Coco and said, "See ya tomorrow!"

"See ya, Mario!" Coco smiled at Mario, who returned the smile before he turned around and walked off to Pinstripe.

Coco smiled again and ran off to her home, feeling ready to compete in the event in the following morning on Gun Island.


	10. Chapter 10

Coco Bandicoot: The Wumpa Games

By Mutitoon90

* * *

Chapter Ten

The morning came to the Wumpa Islands, and everyone that lived on each island was on Gun Island, cheering for their favorite teams that remained in the Wumpa Games, which were the Good Guys, the Half-Pints, and the Gun Men.

Each member of each team was given a racing cart for the next event, the Grand Race. Luna was working on her cart, when Coco went to her and asked a question.

"Luna, is your cart ready?"

"After this check-up, it will be." The wolf girl announced as she rolled herself from the underside of the vehicle, revealing her wolf ears.

"Luna!" Coco gasped upon seeing the ears, which twiched a bit, "Your ears!"

"What's wrong with my ears?" Luna demanded to know, seemingly forgetting about her non-human ears until she reached at her ears and touched them. Upon feeling her changed ears, Luna just started laughing.

The little bandicoot cocked an eyebrow as she inqurried the wolf girl.

"What's so funny?"

"Man, I can be so dumb at times!" The werewolf laughed at herself, "I've forgotten that Sash returned my powers last night."

"When?"

Putting an index finger on her chin, Luna answered thoughtfully.

"When I was... talking to Nathan and Sash."

"Yeah." Coco rolled her eyes, "'Talking' about me."

The announcement caused Luna to freeze in place for a few moments. Then, Coco smiled and spoke again.

"Don't worry about that, Luna. I heard you, but don't be hard on yourself. What happened yesterday was NOT your fault, and I don't blame you for it. Got it?"

"Okay," Luna spoke with a smile on her face, "I got it. Thanks, Co!"

A giggle escaped from the bandicoot's mouth as Sash, who is still in her human form, began the announcement.

_"Alright, fans! The Grand Race about to start in a few minutes! Racers, get to starting line!"_

This was heard by the teams, whom entered their carts and drove them to the starting line. Once there, the teams saw Megumi holding a green flag. Next to her was Liz with a yellow flag that said, 'Lap 1,' the blonde bandicoot from the Trophy Girls holding a similar flag that said, 'Lap 2,' and the green haired member of the Trophy Girls holding a black and white checkered flag.

_"The final event is here, everyone!"_ The silver haired werewolf announced via microphone, _"I know that you wanna know who's going home with the gold medal of the very first Wumpa Games! Will it be the Good Guys, who has been on the top of the rankings, the Gun Men, who's been following bandicoot and human dust, or the Half-Pints, the present underdogs that climbed their way to the top three! Oh, this is an exciting day!"_

_"All right,"_ Aku-Aku's voice called to the racers, _"the rules are this: the first team to complete three laps in the shortest time is the winner. Remember: both teams must cross the finish line because the timer is still on for each team until both racers of the same team makes their way across the finish line."_

_"Alright, teams!" _Sash returned to announcing, _"Start your engines!"_

Coco revved up her cart's engine, which joined the chorus of the other engines. Then, she saw Megumi stepped forward with the flag in her hands and dropped the flag.

The carts sped off, almost like a flash, and poor Megumi nearly was ran over by the karts, but Liz and the Trophy Girls pulled her out of the way.

_"Man!" _Sash shouted as she saw Megumi's evading the karts, _"Somebody get that girl a vacation!"_

"You can say that again!" Liz barked at Sash as she pulled her blue haired partner onto her own back.

In the race, Coco and Luna took turns being the leading member of the team, with the Good Guys in the front and the Gun Men in the back. Then, the little bandicoot saw a rock formation that looked like a ramp, which she took the memory into her mind at that moment.

_"Boy, this is one race to remember, folks!"_ Sash announced, possibly forgetting the fans, which were the residents of the three islands, were not well-developed about the ways of the outside world.

Mairo rolled his eyes as he turned to the next part of the lap, followed by Pinstripe and following the other teams.

"Man, Sash has got to learn about tact." Luna shook her head mentally as Coco passed her again, keeping a good distance from the brown wolf girl.

"Wow!" Coco gasped as she crossed the line, ending her first lap, "We're doing great! If we keep this up, we'll be in the winner's circle in no time!"

Luna was thinking the same thing, even though she could not hear her younger partner, who allowed her to pull into the front.

Crash and Nathan were using the same technique as the Half-Pints, but they planned on staying in the lead. However, Pinstripe has different plans.

As the carts passed a flag-flying Liz, the Potoroo Brothers creeped up to the Half-Pints, whom were in the middle of another shift of position. Then, both brothers drove in front of them and was about to made their way through the Good Guys.

"Damn!" Luna howled out a curse, while Coco, in her cart, yelled out, "I'm not gonna let that happen again!"

Then, the Half-Pints sped off over the Gun Men's carts as the three teams passed the ramp-like rock again. However, the Gun Men had passed Nathan and was chasing after Crash by the time the three teams passsed the blonde member of the Trophy Girls.

"Oh, no!" Coco gasped upon realizing that if she was going to win, she and Luna needed a plan.

Then, she recalled something in her memroy: the rock ramp!

Carefully, Coco drove to the side, which the ramp was on, saying to herself, "I hope this works..."

Luna, taking notice of this course of action by her partner, followed the young bandicoot, thinking the very same thought as her teammate.

Coco looked at her rear-view mirror and saw her friend following her to the ramp-like stone, telling the small bandicoot that she, Luna, was trusting her to led the team.

"Are you that trusting in me, or are you making up for the loss at the Surf n' Turf?"

"Coco..." Luna said, using her werewolf eyes to see Coco's face.

As if Luna's concern was sensed by Coco, the young she-bandicoot narrowed her eyes and said, "What Luna does is her own choose; I've got to this!"

Putting her engine into full throttle, the bandicoot sped up onto the rock and flew off of it with Luna mere feet behind her.

Pinstripe was bragging about his victory to himself as Coco and Luna landed in front of him and Mario. The leader of Gun Island was not happy about being upstaged by a couple of girls.

However, Mario was impressed about the trick that the Half-Pints pulled, even saying under his breath, "That's a good one, girls." Then, he added, "However, I'm not gonna let you two to beat the Gun Men."

Then, the brothers revved up their carts and tried to catch up with the females, however Pinstripe was losing his patience, and Mario had a bad feeling about his elder brother.

Luna looked at the rear-view mirrors and asked, knowing that the head potoroo cannot hear her, "What's going on now?"

The answer came sooner than the werewolf thought.

Pinstripe's cart sped to Coco's cart, and he tried to ram her in the bumper, which shocked Mairo with surprise.

Luck was on Coco's side, and she managed to evade being hit by Pinstripe. Luna also had good luck smiling at her, because Pinstripe missed her as he tried to hit her as well. However, Pinstripe was not so lucky, bacause he crashed into a wumpa tree!

"Pinstripe!" Mario shouted as he slammed his foot onto the brake.

"Mario!" Coco heard the younger porotoo's cry, causing her to hit her brakes as well.

"What the-!" Luna asked loudly as her karts screeched to a halt.

Mario hopped out of his cart and went to Pinstripe's cart, and Coco and Luna reached the Potoroos.


	11. Chapter 11

Coco Bandicoot: The Wumpa Games

By Mutitoon90

* * *

Chapter Eleven

Crash and Nathan reached the finish line first, greeted by the cheers of the crowd as Aku-Aku and Sash made the announcement of the winners.

_"The winners are the Good Guys!"_ Sash's voice rang out to the crowd, but Aku-Aku added a question, _"But where are the other teams?"_

Everyone, including the winning team, looked at the finish line. The waiting was tense for everyone wondering about the Gun Men and the Half-Pints. Nathan and Crash were the most worried of all; Luna and Coco were very dear to them.

Then, a cart was seen by all, but none of them knew if it was a member of the Gun Men or a member of the Half-Pints.

_"There's a cart,"_ Sash spoke out, _"but who is it."_

Keeping an eye on the incoming cart, Megumi shouted out to the crowd, "It's Luna!"

The cart crossed the line, and it confirmed that it was Luna as the she-wolf exited the cart. Nathan and Crash went to Luna, who seemed to know what the males were waiting to know.

"Don't worry, guys. Coco's just fine."

"I hope so." Crash said, honest about his concern for his younger sister.

"Of course, you would say that." Nathan announced, taking the werewolf's words as truth.

Then, in the distance, another racing cart appeared soon after, grabbing everyone's attention.

"That's not Coco, guys." Luna announced, "It's Mario."

"What!?" The Good Guys shouted in shock before Luna added one more statement.

"Pinstripe's been in an accident."

"What!" Crash repeated himself at Luna, who explained her words by saying, "Pinstripe tried to knock her out of the race, but he ended up crashing into a tree."

"What about Coco!?"

"Don't worry, she managed to keep herself and the cart from being part of the crash, so she's all right; no cuts or bruises onto her body."

"That's good to hear." Crash sighed in relief as the cart that was being driven by Mario entered the circle of the crowd and stands.

Seeing this, Nathan went to the younger of the Gun Men and questioned him about the events involving Pinstripe and Coco.

"What happened back there?"

The Pinstripe younger brother answered in a sheepish tone as he spoke to the human male.

"Pinstripe tried to 'bump' off Coco in the race, but he ended up bumping into a tree."

"Where's Coco?" Nathan asked, "Crash is worried about her."

"And I can compeletly understand." Mario answered without wavering his words, "If I'd lost Pinstripe, who knows what I'd do? To answer the question, well ask her yourself."

"Huh?"

Hearing this, Luna smiled a toothy grin before she noticed a third cart coming up on the track and towards them.

"Coco?" Crash asked out loud as the cart came closer to the crowd.

After a few tense moments, the cart entered the ring. Coco was the first to exit, but her passenger, Pinstripe, could not due to being unconscience. Luckly, the female bandicoots rushed out with medical bags to his aid.

"Sash told us to get the medical bags." Isabelle spoke to Nathan.

"Yeah," Liz said, "it's as if she knew what's going on..."

Nathan and Crash looked at each other in confusion and looked at Luna, who still wore a wolfish grin.

Luna, unknown to her and Sash's allies, was having a mental conversation with Sash.

_"Good idea of getting the she-bandicoots to reach Pinstripe for medical attention, Sash. If it was you, they would have caught on our little game."_

Luna heard a groan echo in her mind as the silver haired female spoke into her relative's mind, _"You and I know very well that we're not suppose to use it for anything outside of emergancies!"_

The brown haired girl shook her head, but Sash added another statement.

_"If I recall differently, it was you that said that we could trust them via your empathic abilities."_

_"Well, you're right! And so am I. These guys are true friends, something most of our kind never had!"_

Sash smiled, knowing that Luna, her cousin and closest friend, was right. Recalling that Luna's childish personality was merely a mask to hide her true intellingence.

Then, both werewolves returned their attentions to Pinstripe and Coco, who was being hugged by Crash, and by the redness in the younger she-bandicoot's face, Crash's embrace was too tight.

"Crash, let her go!" Nathan went to Coco's rescue, "You're choking her!"

Crash, hearing this, freed his sister and looked at his friend with a blush and a smile.

Coco managed to say, "Thanks" to Nathan before she fell, only to be caught by Luna.

"Thanks, Luna." The dizzy mammal smiled at the she-werewolf, who replied, "Not a problem."

* * *

An hour later, everyone in the race, including the recovering and cast-covered Pinstripe, were standing on the platforms resevered for the winners and the runners-up. Sash and Aku-Aku were next to them and gave each of them a medal.

Nathan and Crash were given gold medals, and everyone else were given silver medals due to the fact that Coco and Pinstripe crossed the line together, tying the teams.

"Can't believe that I lost!" Whined the leader of Gun Island about his placing.

"Maybe if you hadn't tried to knock Coco out of the race, maybe you would have won." Mario scolded his elder brother, who only glared at his brother.

"Maybe if you had done better, I'd win!"

Mario just rolled his eyes as he decided to ignore his elder brother as Sash made the final announcements via megaphone.

_"Gave a round of applause for our teams."_

As the crowd clapped and cheered, Aku-Aku, who managed to make his voice heard by everyone in the area, made an announcement of his own.

_"There were many things that has happened in the Wumpa Games, but there are a few announcements I'd like to make."_

Everyone looked surprise, but the mask expected it and continued to speak.

_"There is one among us and that without her, there would be no Wumpa Games!"_

More dumbfounded looks appeared on the faces of everyone as the mask floated to Coco Bandicoot. Seeing this sent a jolt of shock to the crowd as Aku-Aku spoke once more.

_"Coco Bandicoot was the one who thought about bringing the Games to life and to our three islands for the purpose of bringing the islands together in the hopes of becoming stronger in union as part of the Islands."_

The crowd blushed as they felt shameful about they behavior towards the youngest bandicoot, believing that she was more trouble than a help.

_"And in addition to that, she managed the true meaning of sportsmanship by helping Pinstripe to reach the finish line."_

Hearing about Coco's selfless rescue, Pinstripe wanted, at that moment, to disappear. Mario smiled, knowing the his elder brother was blushing, but he knew better to bring into any form of conversation, and then he turned his attention back to the magical mask.

_"I have something to give to Coco." _Announced Aku-Aku, who turned to Coco and spoke to her in a fatherly tone of voice, while everyone else heard this.

_"I'm very proud of you, and so are your friends and brother. So, I shall present to you, Coco Bandicoot, the crystal medal of sportsmanship, telling all that of your mature behavior on the field."_

As the mask spoke, a medallion of pure crystal appeared around Coco's neck and rested next to the silver medal. Coco was awestruck as the mask turned back to the crowd.

_"This medal does prevent Coco from partaking in the next Wumpa Games, but she will give her medal to the next person, who shows such characterics in the Games."_

With a smile on her face, she thanked the mask, who nearly chuckled in a fatherly manner.

* * *

A few hours after the honors ceremony, Coco was sitting on the stage by herself, looking at her medals and appearing to be sad. She was so distracted that she failed to notice Mario coming towards her.

"Hi, Coco."

The youngest of the bandicoots looked up, saw the potoroo and answered in slight surprise.

"Mario! What are you doing here?"

"Making sure that you're alright." The younger brother of Pinstripe replied with a sincere smile.

In the stands nearby, Luna and Sash looked at the young duo with their wolf-ears poking from the their heads. Both of them wanted to know about the conversation between Coco and Mario.

"Both our young lovers are interacting right now." Luna spoke in a hushed tone of voice, like a host of a nature show, "Shall they enter the courting ceremony, or will the rival families intervene once again?"

Luna's silver haired cousin looked at Luna, whose behavior was confusing even her. With a heavy and stressed sigh, Sash knew she had to ask, and she did.

"Why are you talking like you on a nature show?"

"Huh?" The brown haired female asked. Then, she answered, "Oh, yeah. I just like to see young love."

Questioning the intention, she added to the question as he asked, "What else?"

Luna smiled goofily, telling Sash that she was caught. Knowing that she was not getting away from her cousin's questions, Luna confessed after a moment of akward silence.

"All right, there's also a bet between me and Crash."

This confession perked Sash's interest, which caused to ask, "What kind of bet?"

"Well," Luna smiled normally again, "Crash believes that Mario is here to steal the crystal medal for Pinstripe, but I said that he was interested in Coco, not her medal."

"Yeah." Sash was hung on her relative's words, "The wager?"

"Crash betted on his Wumpa fruit stash, and I betted on a week of my services to him."

The silver haired werewolf was not surprised at the bandicoot's wager, but her golden eyes widened with shock at Luna's words.

"Luna, remember the last time you've made a bet?" Sash asked the other female, "Granted that's how we met Nathan, that's a good way of losing our home again!"

Making a mental note, Luna smiled again and announced, "You're right. However, that's why I've brought you along."

"Oh, yeah." Sash moaned out, "You keep forgetting the witnesses."

Keeping the smile out her face, the brown haired woman looked at the young duo, only to found out that they were gone! This caused the beam rider's cousin to freak out.

"They're gone!"

"Not exactly, Luna." Sash tapped out Luna's shoulder.

"Huh?" The brown haired girl looked at her family member, but she noticed something from the corner of her eye. Curious, she looked and saw the furiously flaming eyes of Coco and Mario. Dumbfounded by the sudden appearance, Luna smiled and said, "Hi, guys."

"Luna!" Coco yelled at the girl with the tree bark-shaded hair, "What's the big idea of cooking up the crystal medal?!"

The 'question' was confusing to her, causing her to ask the younger bandicoot, "It wasn't."

"Aw, come one!" Coco shouted at her former partner, "I know you were feeling guilty about making lose the Surf 'n Turf!"

"I was, but I got over it!" Luna defended herself, "The medal wasn't my idea!"

Mario and Sash looked at each other in confusion as the team that were formly known as the Half-Pints fought amonst each other.

"If you're not the one who did it, then who?" Coco asked Luna, who replied loudly, "I know it's not me!"

Ready to end the arguement, Sash and Mario pondered for a moment, but then a thought entered their thoughts, causing them to announce in unison.

"Aku-Aku!"

The announcement ended the bickering bewteen the Half-Pints, who looked at their friends in confusion.

"Aku-Aku?" The former team asked. Then, the answer became understanding to Luna.

"Well, duh! He's the only one who could see who's worthy of receiving such a reward."

_"Of course."_ The mask's voice entered the minds of the four before explaining his actions.

_"These were suppose to promote the union of the islands. So, I sure that there was more to the Wumpa Games than winning the medals."_

"Well, that make sense." Mario shrugged his shoulders upon hearing the voice.

"I agree." Luna giggled a little.

Happy that it was never Luna's idea in the first place, Coco smiled brightly as she heard her older brother's voice calling out to her.

"Coco, time to go!"

Coco obeyed her brother with a contented smile on her face. Following her were the werewolves and Mario, who was more of a gentleman than his elder brother ever was.

Luna saw this and believed that the potoroo would bring a problem to Crash, who was truly an older brother to his sister. Sash smiled after reading her cousin's thoughts about Mario. Coco, however, did not notice the leader of Gun Island's younger brother.

By the time the four reached Crash, Nathan and Aku-Aku, they were more than ready to go home.

"Hey, girls!" Nathan greeted with a smile on his face, "Good news: Pinstripe finally ageed."

"Agreed?" The females of the returned quartet asked each other.

Mario, however, knew what was going on.

"It's wonderful. How did you guys do it?"

"Actually," Crash grinned widely, "that's a question you should ask Tawna."

"Tawna?" The girls and Mario were nothing short of being shocked by the news.

"Yeah," the male human nodded, "she laid down that law right there and then. Outside of business and positive outcomes of 'playing nice,' he was about to lose a little more than his dignity if he didn't comply to the agreement."

The girls giggled, knowing fully what Pinstripe was going to lose, but they chose to be quiet about it.

Mario smiled as well as he said, "I know what's going on."

Darkly smiling, Luna managed to keep herself from exposing too much detail when she spoke.

"Now, I know who wears the pants in that relationship!"

"That's a good way of putting it when it comes to them." Nathan nervously respoded to the announcement.

"I don't get it." The Bandicoots spoke out their confusion.

"Don't worry about guys." Mario said, "I'll explain it later."

"Okay!" Crash agreed with the reply.

"That's a date!" Coco added, unknowing that she had just in installed a ping of concern into her older brother, something that the other five noticed.

"Poor guy." Luna smiled.

"Big time." Sash agreed with her cousin.

"Now the question is which one to worry about." Nathan was nervous about the situation.

The mask said nothing, knowing that Crash had to learn sooner or later that Coco was going to grow up.

"Let's get home, guys." Luna suggested after sensing the tension, "It's getting late."

"Yeah." The silver haired female nodded.

Then, Nathan opened a portal, which led to Wumpa Island, allowing everyone in the group to enter it. Aku-Aku had no need for the portal, since the Islands were under his protection. Coco and Mario entered first with their elbows locked, followed by Crash, who had every intention of seperating them when they got through, and Sash entered after. Only Luna and Nathan were left of the small group on Gun Island.

"You think things are going to be more interesting?" The werewolf asked Nathan, who replied with a question of his own.

"When are things normal around Wumpa Island?"

Luna laughed at the response and added, "That's a good point." She turned to the portal and was about to enter it, when she returned her attention to Nathan.

"Hey, are you worried about what we're going to do for the Winter Wumpa Games?"

Usually a response to a concerning question, the self-orphaned boy sighed out his answer to Luna, "I'll think of something."

"That's not surprising." The wolf-eared girl, "You've got up to two years to figure it out."

Then, she entered the portal, leaving Nathan with his thoughts.

"I hope Brio would be interested in looking on a machine that controls the weather or something like that."

With that said, Nathan entered the portal, which closed a second later. As he left, Nathan believed that the future of the Wumpa Games is in the hands of those who wish to know true sportsmanship.


End file.
